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A crime thriller makers are calling an ‘Irish noir’ drama is to be filmed in Belfast and on the banks of Strangford Lough, it was announced today.

James Nesbitt will star as a PSNI detective in the series Bloodlands which is described as a “compelling edge-of-the-seat thriller”.

The BBC show has been written by Co Down man Chris Brandon and is produced by TV veterans including Jed Mercurio who was involved in Line of Duty and Bodyguard.

The BBC have not given much away yet regarding the plot, but their pre-publicity says: “When a car containing a possible suicide note is pulled out of Strangford Lough, detective Tom Brannick (James Nesbitt) quickly connects it to an infamous cold case with enormous personal significance. Bloodlands follows his dogged hunt for a legendary assassin, an explosive cat-and-mouse game where the stakes have never been higher.”

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Speaking about the project, James Nesbitt said: “It’s great to be back making a drama in and about Northern Ireland, which now has a film and television industry as good as any in the world. We have compelling scripts from a brilliant young writer who was raised in County Down, which are very exciting and psychologically complex. I can’t wait to start.”

The show has a wealth of talent on board with people who worked on shows like The Durrells and Omagh involved.

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Chris Brandon says: “I’m absolutely delighted that the first opportunity I get to tell a story on this scale, it is one that is so close to home and the people and places that raised me. On top of that, to be telling it with James Nesbitt, Jed Mercurio and the incredible team at HTM is a total privilege.”

Jed Mercurio, Executive Producer for HTM Television added: “It’s been incredibly rewarding to discover Chris Brandon’s work and to witness the development of an outstanding new voice in contemporary television thriller writing, added to which everyone at HTM Television is honoured an actor of James Nesbitt’s brilliance will star in our debut production.”

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Jimmy Mulville, Executive Producer for HTM Television says: “We’re thrilled to be making our first HTM drama not just in Northern Ireland but about Northern Ireland. This is a compelling edge-of-the-seat thriller which couldn’t be more timely. The ‘Irish noir’ genre has arrived.”

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Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, says: “In Bloodlands Chris has crafted a cracking contemporary thriller which manages to be both completely gripping while shining a light on to the legacy of the troubles in contemporary Northern Ireland. We are thrilled to be working with Chris, Jimmy, Jed and the team at HTM to bring this visceral story to BBC One.”

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